By John D Ellis
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was common for British Army regiments to recruit Black males to serve as enlisted military musicians.(1) The fashion for “Turkish music”, and the “racialised” belief in the “natural propensity for music of Black people”, resulted in most British regiments employing Black musicians to play percussion instruments such as cymbals, tambourines and drums, (in addition to trumpets and bugles). Employed as symbols of regimental opulence and prestige, they were initially enlisted by high status cavalry and Guards regiments. By the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), most regiments had some Black presence; be it individuals or small groups of drummers, trumpeters or bandsmen.(2) (The British Army of the period made no distinction between soldiers of African or Asian origin, simply referring to them as either “Black” or “of colour”). This is the story of one of those soldiers: Thomas Wells, a Sri-Lankan who as a pensioner wore the famous scarlet coat of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Thomas Wells was born in Trincomalee, Ceylon (modern Sri-Lanka) c.1755. A number of Black soldiers born in Asia (referred to as the “East Indies” in records), were the sons of European fathers and native women.(3) However, Wells was described as “a Black” and having a “Black” complexion, (as opposed to being “an East Indian”, a “native” or an “Indo-Briton”), so, it is likely that his parents were both Sri-Lankan. He was not the only Trincomalee born soldier serving in the British Army during the period: Private John Bateman, (described as having a black complexion and “being a native” of the East Indies), born c.1784, served in the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot between 1799 and 1822.(4)
Thomas Wells served as a Private (probably a bandsman – as Black soldiers were largely restricted to musical roles), for twenty years in the 34th Foot and for two years in the 96th Foot.(5) The exact dates of his service in the 34th and 96th Regiments were not recorded. (Between the 1770s and 1790s the former served in North America – including the “American War of Independence”, Britain and Ireland and the Caribbean. Whilst the latter served in Ireland and the Caribbean). However, and if his service was continuous between the three regiments, it is likely that he initially enlisted in the 34th Foot in 1774 while they were serving in Ireland.(6)
Thomas Wells enlisted for the third time in the 1st Battalion 7th (Derbyshire) Foot –known as the “Royal Fusiliers” – in Canada, in February 1796.(7)
Wells was not the only Black soldier to serve in the 7th at the time: George Fortune, born in Madagascar c.1788, served in the Band of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Foot from 1806, including in the Peninsula battles of Talavera, Albuhera, Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. He was then promoted to Drummer (following Badajoz), and transferred to the 1st Battalion where he served until 1821.(8)
The regiment remained in Canada until 1802 when it was sent to Bermuda and the Bahamas. In 1806 it returned to England, and then in 1807 to Ireland. Service in Ireland was brief, being followed by participation in the “Siege of Copenhagen”.
In 1808 the 7th returned to Canada, and early the following year was present at the capture of Martinique – a battle honour still held by the regiment.
In August 1809 Private Thomas Wells, then serving in Nova-Scotia, was sent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea from Canada to be examined for pension. After serving over thirty-five years he was discharged as an out-pensioner on a pension of 1s/3 and 1/2d per day, in December 1809, due to age and defective vision (it was noted that he was “nearly blind”).(9) He was described as “A Black”, 54 years of age, 5/7” tall with “sore” eyes, short black hair and a black complexion. He was a labourer by occupation. He marked, rather than signed, his discharge record, suggesting he was signature illiterate.
A number of soldiers of Asian origin settled in the “East Indies” after discharge, (the place they had been born in, spent most of their service in and raised families in).(11) Military records of the period seldom refer to families, so it is not known if Thomas Wells was married or had a family. His nomadic military existence (Ceylon to North America, Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Canada and Chelsea), might not have been conducive to putting down roots.
In October 1811, Thomas Wells was living in St Luke’s, Chelsea. Although out-pensioners could draw their pension throughout Britain, Ireland and the Empire many chose to settle in Chelsea. Proximity to the financial support, medical care, daily allowance of soup and bread provided to out-pensioners by the Royal Hospital, and the companionship of fellow veterans, would have been important considerations. That month, Thomas Wells applied to become an in-pensioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. (Indicating that he had no dependent relatives). The application was supported by an affidavit, signed by a Justice of the Peace, and confirming his service and status as an out-pensioner.(12) Additionally, the affidavit also revealed that Well’s sense of adventure had not diminished, and that despite being a middle-aged, visually-impaired pensioner, between March 1810 and October 1811, he had served as an Able-Seaman on the Surat Castle, an East India Company vessel.(13)
The Surat Castle had sailed from Portsmouth for China in April 1810, (a month after Thomas Wells joined the crew), was in Malaysia in September, Hong-Kong in December and Macao in March 1811. Returning home, the Surat Castle made St Helena by July 1811 and Falmouth in September, only to collide with the Inspector (from the South Seas), off Margate later that month.(15) Several of the Inspector’s crew drowned in the collision, with the damaged ship being driven ashore, and subsequently re-floated and taken to Ramsgate.(16)
Thomas Wells’ application to become an in-pensioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea was successful, and he was provided with a berth in Ward 14. As a Chelsea Pensioner he wore the famous scarlet coat and black tricorne hat on ceremonial occasions, and received the same recognition and respect given to his White peers.
Thomas Wells died in August 1812, and was buried amongst his comrades in the Old Burial Ground of the Royal Hospital.(18)
References
1)Ellis, JD, “The Visual Representation, Role and Origin of Black Soldiers in British Army Regiments during the Early Nineteenth Century”, (MA Thesis, University of Nottingham, September 2000). For a synopsis see www.academia.edu Also Ellis, JD. “Soldiers of African origin in British Army Regiments in England and Yorkshire, 1700s to 1840s”. A paper presented at “What’s happening in Black British History? VIII.” University of Huddersfield, 10th May 2018. See www.academia.edu
2)Ibid.
3)For the presence of Asian and Indo-British (Anglo-Indian” military musicians in the British Army see: Ellis, JD “”No “faired boy” Private Lenox Simpson of the 41st Foot””. www.academia.edu Also: Ellis, JD. “The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831” at www.sofo.org.uk
4)For John Bateman see: The National Archives (TNA) WO 97/898/44 and WO 120/28, WO 121/208. Bateman, described as having a black complexion and being “a native”, settled in Madras after leaving the Army and died at St Thomas Mount in 1831. See: BIO Deaths & Burials. Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Madras: 1698-1948. N-2-13. Page 293.
5)The 34th was linked with Cumberland in 1796. In 1881 it was retitled as the Border Regiment, in 1959 it became part of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment and in 2006 the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (King’s, Lancashire and Border). The 96th Foot was only in existence between 1793 and 1796.
6)For the presence of Black soldiers in Ireland see: Ellis, JD. “The Black, the Red and the Green: Black Red-Coats and Ireland during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” Irish Sword 23, no.323 (2003): pp 409-25. www.academia.edu
7)In 1881 the 7th Foot were re-titled the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). In 1968 they became part of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Cannon, R. “Historical Record of the Seventh Regiment, Or the Royal Fusiliers: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, of its Subsequent Services to 1846”. (Parker, Furnivall and Parker. 1847).
8)For George Fortune see: TNA WO 12/2545 and WO 97/289.
9)TNA WO 121/100 and 174. His records give his age as both 44 years and 54 years on discharge in 1809.
10)www.wyedean.com/royal-hospital-chelsea
11) Ellis: “”No “faired boy” Private Lenox Simpson of the 41st Foot””. “The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831”.
12)TNA WO 121/174.
13)Ibid.
14)“The East Indiaman Surat Castle in two positions calling for a pilot off Dover, 1790”. By Thomas Whitcombe (1763-1824). www.artnet.com/artists/thomas-whitcombe/the-east-indiaman-surat-castle-in-two-positions-rNWKgX5N0UrK5B12LerHxA2
15)discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/d1715daa-2ce8-4ef8-933e-74d1c3afa170
16)The Morning Post, 28th September 1811. findmypast.co.uk
17)”Illustration of the Chelsea pensioner from Picturesque Representations of the Dress and Manners of the English” (1814) by William Alexander (1767-1816). Original from the New York Public Library. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. www.rawpixel.com/image/328314/free-illustration-image-19th-century-alexander-alone
18)Burial: 17th August 1812. Chelsea Hospital, London. Thomas Wells. 14th Ward. England & Wales Non-Conformist Burials. TNA/RG/4/4387. findmypast.co.uk
19)The Old Burial Ground; March 2015. Carlos Cunha. www.panoramio.com/photo/118631165